Teriba, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Economic Associates, made this call in an interview with our correspondent.
He stated that the CBN was putting its credibility at stake over the naira redesign policy and the aftermath which had seen the Supreme Court of Nigeria ruling that old Naira notes should continue to be legal tender till the end of the year.
Dismissing claims that confidence in the banking sector will be reduced, Teriba stated that the CBN was the one undermining itself and that the banks were as much victims of the policy as their customers.
He said, “I don’t think that it is fair to portray it as trust in the banking sector, it is trust in the Central Bank that is being undermined. The credibility of the central bank is at stake.
“The sense of judgement of the Central Bank is on trial. So the Central Bank is carrying on as a regulatory authority that people may think twice about taking seriously. After all this unnecessary crisis that the central bank has fomented, it is going to be difficult, it is going to take time before that institution will regain the respect of the public. It is going to take time for them to regain the respect of domestic and international observers, who see the Central Bank on a wild goose chase creating crisis, breaking law. Its action has been declared by the Supreme Court to be unconstitutional. That is a dent on the image of any Central Bank that the attempt to limit the access of Nigerians to the money that they own is an infringement on the rights of Nigerians. These are very serious pronouncement on any institution.
“It is almost pushing the nation to the realisation that instead of the nation reforming currency, it is the CBN itself that needs to be reformed, so that they become a law-respecting agency, not that they think that they can do and undo. They recklessly announce unreasonable policy and demonstrate arrogance when you see riots all over the place, banks being attacked and you kept quiet. That is arrogance.
He explained that the banks are as much victims as their customers. “This is the Central Bank abusing its regulatory powers, harassing the public, harassing the banks. I don’t see any faults on the bank.”
On the silence of the CBN in the face of the Supreme Court ruling, the economist said, “ Up till now, the Central Bank has not come out to make a statement to say that banks should obey the Supreme Court order and accept the old currency.
“Central Bank is yet to make a statement to the general public to say, ‘Obey Supreme court, accept’ so people are rejecting the old currency. It is almost as if we don’t have a Central Bank at the moment.”
“The first step is to come and say that the general public should obey the Supreme court, which contradicts what the Central Bank has said for months. The decision of the Central Bank is final. You can’t appeal it. They should swallow their pride and come out and say, ‘Obey the Supreme Court, accept the old notes in addition to the new ones until December 31st, this year.’
He called on the CBN to affirm the decision of the Supreme Court noting that they created the confusion.
He stated that the public is still holding on to what the CBN had said, that the notes will not be acceptable beyond February 17 which the court has ruled against.
“Come and say that ‘The ruling of the court overrides whatever I told you.’ Simple. The day you do that, you redeem yourself. Nobody is above mistake. To err is human and to forgive is divine. As an institution, you can come out to say, “sorry Nigerians. Obey the Supreme Court.’ And somehow that brings closure to that. Once people start accepting the notes, things will go back to normal. At this stage, that is what the Central Bank needs to do. Either the governor should do it, or the Central Bank should issue a statement to be clear that they are saying the public should obey the Supreme Court.”
